Vance McAllister upsets Neil Riser in Louisiana House runoff

Businessman Vance McAllister has won the special runoff election for a vacant northeast Louisiana congressional seat, notching an upset win over fellow Republican Neil Riser, according to the Associated Press.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, McAllister, a political newcomer, led Riser, a state senator who had won the support of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and much of the state’s GOP congressional delegation, 59.7 percent to 40.3 percent.

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McAllister will succeed former GOP Rep. Rodney Alexander, who resigned in August to take a job in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration after spending more than a decade in the House.

Riser entered the runoff as the favorite, having finished more than 12 percentage points ahead of McAllister in October’s crowded primary. Riser, who has held elected office since 2008, benefited from having an existing political organization – an advantage in an expansive district that takes up a large portion of the state. He outspent McAllister by more than $200,000, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. And he had the backing of many political figures, including Alexander.

But McAllister fought back, portraying himself as an anti-establishment figure. While Riser received support from political action committees, McAllister - who made a fortune in the oil business - relied heavily on his personal wealth, contributing over $500,000 of his own money to his campaign. Much of it was spent on TV ads in which he pointed out that he wasn’t a politician.

Running in an impoverished part of the state, McAllister competed aggressively for blue-collar voters. During the closing days of the race he aired a TV ad spotlighting an endorsement from Willie Robertson, a star in the popular A&E reality series “Duck Dynasty,” which is about a family-run duck-call business. And late in the race, McAllister gambled big by tacking to the left and expressing support for certain planks of Obamacare – a move designed to win over low-income voters and Democrats, who were allowed to vote in the primary and runoff.

In a conservative district where Mitt Romney won more than 60 percent of the vote, McAllister’s soft line on Obamacare was a risky one. Riser - who made the law’s repeal a central campaign plank - clobbered his opponent on the issue, saying it was evidence that he was insufficiently conservative.